Pope of Rome convert to Islam during the time of Heraclius

 

This huge body tossing and turning in bed... what's wrong with him? What's his condition?

Doesn't sleep come to him to rest?

No... no... sleep was far from his eyelids... Today he heard something he had never heard before:

"Submit and you will be safe... Submit and you will be safe..." These words echoed in his ears... "Submit and you will be safe..."

Oh my God.. Is Muhammad really the Messenger of God?

The call echoes in his ears again: “Submit and you will be safe. May God reward you twice over.”

The exhausted body surrendered to sleep, the echo of events reverberating deep within him.

In the morning, Heraclius, the great Roman emperor, woke up from his sleep, exhausted from thinking. He had come to Ilia as a pilgrim, thanking God for His victory over the Persians and their king. He had sworn that if God granted him victory over them, he would go on pilgrimage to Ilia on foot, and he did. As soon as he arrived, a letter from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, came to him, in which Dihya bin Khalifa, the messenger of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, had sent him to the great king of Busra, and he in turn sent him to Heraclius:

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the servant and messenger of God, to Heraclius, the great Roman emperor: Peace be upon him who follows the guidance. Now then: I invite you to the call of Islam. Submit and you will be safe . Submit and God will give you your reward twice. If you turn away, then upon you is the sin of the Arians and (O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except God and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords besides God. But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims.”)

What does he do with this book... and how does he ask about its sender?

Meanwhile, Abu Sufyan was in a group of Quraysh merchants in the Levant. Heraclius learned about them and invited them to his council, surrounded by the nobles of the Romans. Then he called for his interpreter - and Abu Sufyan was the spokesman for the people - and said:

-Which of you is closest in lineage to this man who claims to be a prophet?

I am the closest relative.

Bring him closer to me, and bring his companions near and make them stand behind him. I will question this man, and if he lies to me, then lie to him.

Abu Sufyan said to himself: By God, if it were not for the shame of them accusing me of lying, I would have lied about him.

And the dialogue begins:

How is he related to you?

He is related to us.

-Has anyone among you ever said this before?

-no!

-Was there a king among his ancestors?

-no!

-Do the nobles or the weak follow him?

-But their weak ones.

Are they increasing or decreasing?

-They are increasing.

-Does any of them turn away from his religion out of resentment after entering it?

-no!

-Were you accusing him of lying before he said what he said?

-no!

-Does he betray?

-No, and we are in a period where we do not know what he is doing.

-Did you fight him?

-Yes.

-How was your fight with him?

The war between us and him is a debate, he gets us and we get him.

-What does he order you?

He says: Worship God alone and do not associate anything with Him, and abandon what your fathers say. He commands us to pray, be truthful, be chaste, and maintain family ties.

I asked you about his lineage and you mentioned that he was of noble lineage among you. This is how messengers are sent according to the lineage of their people.

I asked you if any of you had said this, and you said no. I said, if anyone had said this, I would have said he was a man who imitates the words of someone before him.

I asked you if any of his ancestors were kings. You said no. I said: If any of his ancestors were kings, I would say: A man seeking his father’s kingdom.

I asked you: Did you accuse him of lying before he said what he said? You said no, because I know that he would not have left lying to people and lied to God.

I asked you: Did the nobles of the people follow him or the weak among them? You said: The weak among them followed him, and they are the followers of the Messengers. I asked you: Do they increase or decrease? You said: They increase, and this is the case with faith when its cheerfulness mixes with the hearts.

I asked you: Does he betray? You said: No, and the messengers do not betray.

I asked you: What does he command you to do? You said: He commands you to worship God and not to associate anything with Him, and he forbids you from worshipping idols, and he commands you to pray, be truthful, and be chaste. If what you say is true, then he will own the place where my feet are. I knew that he was coming, but I did not think that he was one of you. If I had known that I would reach him, I would have taken the trouble to meet him. If I were with him, I would have washed his feet.

Then Heraclius called for the letter of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and read it. When he had said what he had said and finished reading the letter, there was a great uproar around him, and voices rose, and Abu Sufyan and those with him were brought out. (Bukhari)

But did Hercules stop at this point, or did he continue his search for the truth..?

The book of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, not only moved the conscience of Heraclius , but also moved the consciences and hearts of many Christian scholars , including Sergius, Patriarch of the Eastern Church in Constantinople, and Honorius, Pope of Rome.

At that time, the Christian world was divided within itself, between those who believed in God and those who associated Him with Him, and those who differed about the nature of Christ, peace be upon him. Is he God, the son of God, or the third of three? If one of these assumptions is correct - and God is far above what they say - then does Christ have a human nature and a divine nature, or is it a divine nature embodied in his person? Does he have one will or two wills? Does his will agree or disagree with the will of God? These are unanswered questions that revolve in the minds of Christian scholars, let alone their common people!

The idea of ​​"one nature" and "one will" had spread early in the Christian world, and many councils were held to curse and expel those who disagreed with the doctrine of the Trinity. The first of these was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, in which Arius and other patriarchs who rejected this strange doctrine were cursed. Emperor Constantine II - the first of the Roman kings to convert to Christianity - was behind this council, in which the four known gospels were also adopted and the others were rejected.

Sergius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, believed that Christ had a human nature and that there was nothing divine in Him. So did Heraclius and many of the Patriarchs of the East, including the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius. But did the Roman Patriarchs hold this belief? The answer is: No..! Rather, they accused everyone who held this belief of heresy, cursed him, and ruled to expel him from the mercy of God!

* * *

There was correspondence between Sergius and Honorius, the Pope of Rome at that time, in which various issues were discussed, most notably the issue of the “one will.” Sergius was finally able to convince the Pope of Rome of this belief, and the latter agreed with him. In doing so, he contradicted the popes who came before and after him, and proved to the Christian world - to this day - that the Pope is not holy and that he makes mistakes and is right!

Heraclius remained in Ilia for Hajj for a period of time, then he was given permission to leave for Constantinople. However, during his stay in Ilia, he sent a letter to the Pope of Rome mentioned above, explaining to him the matter of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and what was mentioned in his letter to him. The response came to him from the Pope while he was on his way to Constantinople, passing through Homs, “consistent with Heraclius’ opinion that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, had left and that he was a prophet. So Heraclius gave permission to the nobles of the Romans to hold a conference in Homs, then he ordered its gates to be closed. Then he looked and said: O Romans, do you want to achieve success and guidance and for your kingdom to be established so that you pledge allegiance to this prophet? So they swarmed like wild donkeys to the gates and found that they were closed. When Heraclius saw their aversion and despaired of faith, he said: Return them to me. He said: I said my statement a while ago to test your steadfastness in your religion, and I have seen it. So they prostrated to him and were pleased with him. That was the end of Heraclius’ affair.” (Bukhari)

* * *

Honorius was born in Campagna, Italy, to noble parents, and his father's name was Petronius.

Honorius was the first student of Pope Gregory I (590-604 AD). Honorius did not become Pope of Rome until five popes came after Gregory I, namely:

Sabinian Sabinian (604-606 AD)

Boniface III (607 AD)

Boniface IV (608-615 AD)

Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-618 AD)

Boniface V and Boniface V (619-625 AD)

Honorius remained Pope of Rome for 13 years, from 625 until his death in 638 AD.

Historians describe Honorius as a benevolent reformer who sought to rebuild and restore churches and decorated St. Peter's Basilica. Among his charitable works was bringing water to Rome from Lake Sabatini, 35 miles from the city, after he repaired the Taragan Canal and built mills on it. He played a major role in the beginning of the spread of Christianity in the British Isles and Ireland.

During the papacy of Honorius in Rome, events were taking place in the East that would change the future of humanity.

The Islamic invasion had begun to spread from Medina after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in 632 AD, and after Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) brought the apostates back to Islam. As soon as Omar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) became caliph, the Muslim armies intensified their advance towards the lands of the Persian and Roman states. When the Muslims conquered Aelia (i.e. Jerusalem) in 637 AD, its bishop at that time was Sophronius (633-638 AD), who believed in the doctrine of the "one will", and his successor Pyrrhus also held the same belief. This doctrine - as you can see - is not strange among Christian scholars , unlike what they are now.

The conflict between Muslims and Romans continued in the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, and North Africa, and moved to Andalusia. Muslims tried to conquer Constantinople many times, the first of which was in the year 52 AH during the time of Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, and the attempts were repeated many times, but the city held out until God permitted its conquest at the hands of the Ottoman Mujahid Muhammad al-Fatih, may God have mercy on him, in the year 1452 AD.

The question now is: Did Honorius convert to Islam or not? Before answering this question, we say the following:

In 681 AD, a council was held in Constantinople itself, later called the Council of Constantinople, in which the belief of Sergius and the patriarchs who embraced it were condemned, including Pope Honorius.

We previously learned that Honorius sent a response to Heraclius’ letter in which he asked him about the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. This response included - as stated in Sahih al-Bukhari [Book of Monotheism, Hadith No. 6] - what “agrees with Heraclius’ opinion about the emergence of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and that he is a prophet.” Is it conceivable that a man like Honorius, who had knowledge of the Book, loved goodness, and believed in the humanity of Christ, and who saw with his own eyes a year before his death the Muslims’ entry into Jerusalem and their defeat of the Persians and Romans in every battle they fought, and who knew that the awaited Prophet would appear to all nations, and after Heraclius’ letter reached him describing the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his response to him; is it conceivable that a man like this would not have converted to Islam?

But the final and definitive answer about Honorius’ conversion to Islam will remain suspended, although I personally believe that he converted to Islam, and that the popes who came after him cursed and expelled him for this reason, and they concealed the truth about him from the rest of the Christians , as is their custom in distorting and falsifying the facts.

Perhaps one day the Vatican Library will open its doors to researchers so that they can see the books and ancient manuscripts it contains. The description of the Seal of the Prophets, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his nation is undoubtedly present in their books. Perhaps this day will not come until the Muslims conquer Rome, as the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, foretold in the authentic hadith: On the authority of Imran bin Husayn, he said: While we were around the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, writing, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was asked: Which of the two cities will be conquered first: Constantinople or Rome? He said: The city of Heraclius will be conquered first. Meaning Constantinople. [A sound hadith narrated by Ahmad and others].

God Almighty says: “And indeed, among the People of the Scripture are those who believe in God and in what was revealed to you and what was revealed to them, humbly submissive to God. They do not exchange the verses of God for a small price. Those will have their reward with their Lord. Indeed, God is swift in account.” [Al Imran: 199]

And God Almighty knows best, and our final supplication is that all praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds.

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Research sources:

Fath Al-Bari with explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari

-Pope Encyclopedia, Matthew Bunson, 1995, Crown Publishing Group, NY, NY. -The Lives of the Popes in the early middle ages, Rev. Horace K. Mann, Vol. I, Part I, pp 308-345, 2nd edition, London 1925 -Chronicles of the Popes, P. G, Maxwell-Stuart, 1997